Important Message for All Villagers

Interests:Needlework, including counted cross stitch and knitting, reading, dogs, triking (trikes are three wheeled motorcycled if you didn't know) and flower gardening. That is besides the paranormal...

Posted 01 May 2009 - 03:28 PM

I am very disappointed in how certain members have been treating each other and how they’ve been treating GhostVillage.com recently. There has been flagrant disregard for the Member Guidelines and it is not going to be tolerated.

Things I won’t tolerate:1. Posts that are rude, derogatory, ridiculing, or belittling of another member.2. Bringing up issues with other members that are carried over from other forums.3. By-passing of the profanity filters by substituting symbols, spaces, etc. for letters, leaving the word’s obvious meaning intact.

I am not going to post the full list of Member Guidelines,as you are to have already read and agreed to them before registering here. For those of you who still need to read them, here is the link: http://www.ghostvill...?act=boardrules

If anyone has a concern about a post or another member, then they are to contact a member of the Moderator Team. To report a specific post, look at the lower left of that specific post. You will see a button that says ‘Report’. Click on that button and you will be able to send a message to the moderator of that board expressing your concern. If the concern is of a general nature, then a private message should be sent to a Moderator. To do this, click on that Moderator’s username. A drop-down box will appear. Select ‘Send Message’ and you will be taken to your message center, where you will be able to send a P.M. to that Moderator.

Anyone who disregards the Member Guidelines and repeats violations may result in further action being taken towards the violating member.

I cannot begin to say just how disappointed I am, not to mention how tired I am of the behavior exhibited in Personal Encounters over the last few months. If anyone out there thinks that I won’t follow through with what I say – or thinks they don’t have to take this seriously, Think Again.

"Never wrestle with a pig. All you get is dirty and the pig has all the fun." ~ Anon.

Thanks I get your point, I believe lot of new members might be shying away from discussions with all these insanity. Moreover personal grudges at another site should be kept there and GV should be treated according to the guidelines here.

there are a few problems that are hard to enforce even as a moderator (you would agree)....

1.) most people (even good people that wouldn't hurt a fly), wont bother to read the rules, not because they are disrespectful to the site, but because "who wants to read a page of text right now, lets just register and get this over with", its not just this forum, its any forum on the internet... face it... its not something you want to do when you can just go "i agree" and move on

i know this sounds a little harsh, but i found no other way to rephrase it, i love this place and i wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone, just said the sad truth.

2.) people are different, have different belief systems, different perspectives of the same subjects, that's something you cant change, not in the forum and not in real life, there will always be clashing of opinions, how you choose to convey your opinion is a whole different matter, that's where the problems are... and that's where you moderators come in, send the offender a warning saying next time he will just be banned and ip banned if he\she comes back.

3.) i agree on the "migrating disputes over x forums" part, we're not here to fight each other, but to share stories and information and just have fun, but again... its something that will happen again, the only thing is how early you stop the fight from getting more flamers in and turning an insignificant little dispute into an enraging war. delete the whole thread immediately on sight and give warnings to the people involved using a mass messaging system.... every forum has this feature anyway.

4.) profanity filters, in my opinion, work to an extent, as you mentioned yourself, it can be bypassed, making it somewhat useless unless you cover any character combination out there for the offensive word, not saying you should remove it or something.

dont be dissapointed, its the unpredictable nature of people, any public place is prone to violence just as much, its an ongoing battle you can never win, only control... thats why you are called a "moderator" and not "executioner", see yourself as the police in a neighborhood, there will always be a new bad guy to send to jail, its a matter of time.

Right on. Personally, it's a turn off when I read people sniping at each other. If I was a non-memberI wouldn't post at all and I would stay away from signing up.
Much to the mod's credit here at GV, they usually get things under control very quickly. Cool

there are a few problems that are hard to enforce even as a moderator (you would agree)....

I, as a moderator, do not see any problem at all, that was merely a guiding post.

1.) most people (even good people that wouldn't hurt a fly), wont bother to read the rules, not because they are disrespectful to the site, but because "who wants to read a page of text right now, lets just register and get this over with", its not just this forum, its any forum on the internet... face it... its not something you want to do when you can just go "i agree" and move on

That is when I would say those people who don't even bother to read and abide by the guidelines can take the highway and look for another place to show off their talents. If someone has to participate on GV actively, they NEED to abide by the guidelines laid down on this site.

i know this sounds a little harsh, but i found no other way to rephrase it, i love this place and i wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone, just said the sad truth.

Yuo, I agree, and I know you enjoy the site and wouldn't do anything against, but for those who might, I might sound harsh as well, they will merely be banned from participating here.

2.) people are different, have different belief systems, different perspectives of the same subjects, that's something you cant change, not in the forum and not in real life, there will always be clashing of opinions, how you choose to convey your opinion is a whole different matter, that's where the problems are... and that's where you moderators come in, send the offender a warning saying next time he will just be banned and ip banned if he\she comes back.

That exactly IS the point of the original post here.

3.) i agree on the "migrating disputes over x forums" part, we're not here to fight each other, but to share stories and information and just have fun, but again... its something that will happen again, the only thing is how early you stop the fight from getting more flamers in and turning an insignificant little dispute into an enraging war. delete the whole thread immediately on sight and give warnings to the people involved using a mass messaging system.... every forum has this feature anyway.

I guess the process is for moderaators to decide, but thanks for the points.

4.) profanity filters, in my opinion, work to an extent, as you mentioned yourself, it can be bypassed, making it somewhat useless unless you cover any character combination out there for the offensive word, not saying you should remove it or something.

Profanity filters are in place for a reason, we at GV, DO NOT appreciate anyone circumventing the filter. Any such attempt will be taken as a serious offense.

dont be dissapointed, its the unpredictable nature of people, any public place is prone to violence just as much, its an ongoing battle you can never win, only control... thats why you are called a "moderator" and not "executioner", see yourself as the police in a neighborhood, there will always be a new bad guy to send to jail, its a matter of time.

7 years? wow... some people cant last their day job for 7 years, hats off to you then moonchild, i sure know what moderators deal with and do so voluntarily

you know, i'm a person who tends to take things too seriously, i thought redhead was too, i've never heard a moderator say he's\she's dissapointed on any forum i've visited, most of them just abuse their power and dont actually do their job when they're really needed, or they think that because they are moderators its ok for them to be rude, (not here thank god).

bottom line is that she should lighten up a bit, she's right about everything, but taken this a little too personally, thats all i'm saying

Redhead's posting was the direct result of certain members actively chasing other members from another board to here, and bringing in the baggage and problems from that board, and who were deliberately ignoring our requests to leave the issue where it started and our requests to stop going after each other's throats.

We work HARD, you have no idea how hard we work behind the scenes and in front of the scenes, every single day, no vacations, no breaks, no pay. We do it because we love GV, we love the majority of the members who participate, discuss, debate and agree to disagree within not only the Member Guidelines, but within Common Human Decency.

So at times, yes, we the moderating team ARE disappointed in the disrespectful behaviour of a tiny minority towards both ourselves and the general membership. We are human beings, we are allowed to feel and express that disappointment, and it's our job to handle that tiny minority in a manner that does not disrupt the flow of the boards. Neither Redhead, nor the rest of us, need to lighten up. It's our JOB.

Interests:Needlework, including counted cross stitch and knitting, reading, dogs, triking (trikes are three wheeled motorcycled if you didn't know) and flower gardening. That is besides the paranormal...

Posted 10 June 2009 - 03:00 PM

It looks as though my original post wasn't clear enough. It was not intended for discussion. It was a statement of fact. You abide by the Member Guidelines or there will be consequences. Ignorance of the law (in this case Guidelines) is no excuse. The Guidelines are in place for very good reasons - even though someone might not be able to think of what those reasons might be. When each and everyone of us registered to become members of this forum, we all had to click on a button that said "I agree" meaning that we agreed that we read the Guidelines and that we agreed to abide by theim or face consequences. I stated that I was disappointed and I am - disappointed in people who feel that theirs is the only opinion and that they are the only ones with rights. Everyone here at GV has the right to post - within the Guidelines - and everyone's opinion is valued. But when a few people think that they can change that and make this their forum, it can and does ruin things for the rest of the community. I will not tolerate that. I appreciate the support from other members and moderators.

Since this has turned from an announcement to all members to read and follow the rules into a discussion about why there are rules and how hard it is to enforce said rules - and it really isn't hard at all if that is what anybody is thinking - I am closing this thread. Just don't forget - I am not going to tolerate violations of the Guidelines. If you have a problem with that, feel free to send me a private message.

"Never wrestle with a pig. All you get is dirty and the pig has all the fun." ~ Anon.